China's skies are booming, but who will shape it? A comprehensive look at China's commercial aviation market

Abstract

China is already the fastest growing and is quickly becoming the largest commercial aviation market in the world. The country is expected to need over one trillion dollars' worth of new aircraft over the next 20 years and will claim 20% of the world demand. Boeing and Airbus are working to stake their claim in the market, while a Chinese manufacturer has also thrown it's hat in the ring. China is also expected to provide most of the passenger growth in the commercial aviation industry. Given this projection, many of the major North American airlines are attempting to corner this emerging passenger market; however, as they clamor to get on the leading edge of this passenger growth, they are running into more issues than anticipated due to Chinese protectionist air policies. On the other side, state-run Chinese airlines stand to gain a tremendous amount from this growth; however, whether or not they accomplish this also depends on the relief of the protectionist policies. If infrastructure can keep up with demand, the sky is the limit for this rapidly-expanding global market. For all of those involved, it is one of the best business opportunities the world has seen, and each company wants to take advantage of it as much as they can.